Don't Fear the Dark
by TheSilentSwordsman
Summary: With a scarring past and an uncertain future, special operatives Kazuto Kirigaya and Shino Asada must find their own place in the world, together. DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sword Art Online or the cover. T to be safe. CONTINUED BY STRIDERM8
1. I

I

* * *

 _Ka-ching!_ The sound of a round being loaded into the chamber of an anti-materiel rifle. An especially dangerous weapon, even more powerful if put into the hands of a masterfully skilled operator, such as the one currently behind the scope. Laying in the rubble on top of the roof of one of the tallest buildings in the city, a girl with powdery blue hair had been making preparations for several minutes, to make sure she only needed one shot.

"Sinon, do you have a clear shot?" The radio she had placed next to her crackled to life, startling her slightly. She steadied herself and looked down the scope, hoping to find her target square in her crosshairs. Needless to say, she was disappointed.

"Negative. Windows look reinforced and made of ballistic glass. Also, there's curtains. So I think this one's up to you." She answered.

"Well, that complicates things. Do you at least have a visual on me?" The male voice had an almost joking tone to it.

"Kirito… You're standing in the street waving a glowing purple sword around. In the dead of night, too! Who do you think I am?" She stifled a laugh. "And be careful with that. Just because it's new doesn't mean you can wave it around and blow your cover."

"Right, right. It's about time. Try to make sure nobody sneaks up on me again." Kirito laughed. "That was totally your fault, by the way. What were you thinking falling asleep on the job?"

"To be fair, you had insisted we go to that party the Chief was holding." She rolled her eyes, even though there was no way Kirito could've seen it.

"Yeah, yeah. It's time. I'm going in." Sinon watched as he hung his new photon blade at his side, under his coat. He gently pushed the door aside and stepped into the building. Sinon and Kirito were an amazing team, a cohesive unit. The TSG's best. The two were almost as close as brother and sister, though they weren't related at all. Their frequent jokes and making fun of each other was a testament to that. In some circumstances, one might even think they were rivals, but once in the field, they were peas in a pod and serious as could be.

Sinon watched intently through her scope as Kirito presented his fake I.D. to the woman behind the front desk. She held her breath, before the woman gave Kirito a curt nod, and he proceeded on his way. Kirito walked quickly, but not so fast as to alert the people around him to his identity or his intentions. Kirito and Sinon had been trained only by the best; their mentor Heathcliff was the only agent able to surpass them in the field… _Was._ Sinon went back to that horrible day, that ridiculous assignment. Kirito and Sinon had known it was difficult. Impossible, even. But Heathcliff never gave up- he never backed down.

"Sinon." The voice from her radio came again. "I'm gonna need you to hack into something… The door here's locked." He didn't seem too happy about it.

"What? The briefing didn't say anything about hacking." It wasn't as if she couldn't hack; she could, but the fact that their intel didn't encompass everything was… Unsettling.

"I know, that's what I'm worried about." His voice was dead serious. "It's a keypad, I'm plugging you in now."

"Roger." Sinon flipped open the small but rugged laptop that rested on the ground to her right. "Go ahead." Her eyes widened as the schematics and code started to flood her computer screen. "Th-this is top-level encryption! The stuff the government uses to protect nuclear launch codes, etcetera."

"Can you do it?" That was Kirito. Serious and straight to the point in the field, joking and easygoing anywhere else. Maybe that's why he and Sinon were paired, and now shared such a close connection. Their personalities were almost indistinguishable.

"Of course. It'll take a bit, though."

"Well, I hope it doesn't take as long as that time they sent us to see if North Korea was making nuclear warheads. I almost fell asleep." His voice indicated boredom, as he waited for Sinon to crack the code.

"Pfft." Sinon huffed. "I'd like to see you try."

"That's what I have you for, isn't it?"

"Door's open. Get moving, joker." Sinon almost smiled. Something exclusively Kirito could make her do, but it was still a rare occurrence in the field.

Kirito hugged the wall, and carefully opened the door before peeking inside. An empty room, a round table with 5 seats around it in the middle. Papers were scattered all over the mahogany surface. Quickly examining the room to make sure there were no visible traps, Kirito entered quickly, and began to search through the papers on the table.

"Careful, Kirito. What's in there? Actually, could you just open the goddamned curtains?" She decided to take a look for herself.

Kirito stepped over to open the curtains, and Sinon could see inside. "Careful, Kirito. Where do you think they all went?"

"Well…" Kirito examined the contents of the paper he was holding. "I'm not sure… Wait." He said, as his nose picked up on a familiar scent. Nearby on the table, a mug filled with brown liquid steamed, from being recently heated. "They're here somewhere." He muttered under his breath, as to only allow Sinon to hear.

Suddenly, from behind one of the many wall panels, a small bang could be heard, along with a quiet curse to accompany it. _Bingo._ Kirito dashed forward, blade unclipped from his side and humming intimidatingly. Sinon watched in awe as he thrust it into the wall, it searing straight through the material, and the reinforced steel that lay underneath. She knew the TSG had state-of-the-art equipment and technology, but this? This was insane. Kirito used the blade of his beam sword to cut an opening in the wall large enough for a person to fit through. Sure enough, one man in a ruffled business suit was huddled in a small reinforced compartment, hidden behind a wall panel.

"Please don't hurt me!" The man almost screamed, cowering. "I don't know anything! I'm just an investor! They forced me in here and told me not to come out until whoever was here left!"

"So that's how low the Kaneshiro company has stooped, hmm? Shoving helpless investors into vaults as distractions." Kirito's voice came, disgusted.

"They didn't tell me anything, I swear!" The man was still cowering in fear.

"Get out of here." Kirito's tone softened slightly, as the man got up and ran for his life, hands above his head in a sign of surrender. Sinon and Kirito had been chasing the higher ups of the company for almost two years, as their intel operative "The Rat" had collected info pertaining to the sale of weapons to terrorist groups, by the Kaneshiro weapons company. But wherever they went, it seemed that the company was always a step ahead. They always knew what operation the TSG had planned next. But this time was supposed to be different. The plans were kept only in paper, and were destroyed once Sinon and Kirito had been briefed. The company's board didn't even know about the meeting they were going to have; only the CEO did. But somehow, they were gone, before Kirito had even had a chance to show off his new sword.

No matter, however- they had left behind something equally important. The company's most important documents. Recent transactions, emails, finance reports. It seemed like this was a relatively important meeting. Top secret, even. _So how did that rat get her info on it?_ Argo never failed to impress Kirito, with her seeming 'omniscience.' Nevertheless, they hadn't got what they came for, but what they were rewarded with was arguably more important. "Sinon?" He radioed as he stuffed pieces of paper into his utility pockets.

"Yeah? Anything good down there?" She asked.

"Better than good. We have what we need. Let's get out of here."

* * *

"These are quite the find, Kazuto. Well done." The chief congratulated him. A tall, african-american man by the name of Andrew, but he went under the callsign "Agil". Kazuto only went by the callsign "Kirito" while he was in the field, but he'd been told several times that it wasn't "creative enough" or that it was "too easy to crack- some foreign country is gonna kick down your door and kick your ass!"

Kazuto rubbed the back of his neck. He and Andrew had quite a good relationship, despite their roles in the workplace. "It was nothing… In fact, I had effectively no resistance. The only thing that needed to be down was Sinon hacking a keypad. That's literally all."

"I'm not surprised, actually. The schematics of the building had almost no defence mechanisms, and it's almost Christmas, so the guards should have been few and far in-between."

"Wha-what?" Shino gawked. "You knew?" She had spent most of the meeting in silence- she found the chief slightly intimidating, as he was of massive height- almost reaching seven feet. "Then don't you think sending both of us was a little overkill?"

"It wasn't the mission I was worried about. I heard from the rat that the Kaneshiro company had hired a contractor to keep the higher-ups safe. She's only known by the name "Lightning-Flash".

"Ooh, Lightning Flash. Sounds pretty intimidating. I bet she's just a big wuss." Kazuto crossed his arms.

"Ha, ha. You wish, Kazuto. Apparently, nobody even knows what weapon she uses; she attacks so freaking fast. That and the fact that nobody's survived to tell, even if they did see what weapon she uses."

Kazuto's arms dropped back to his sides and the smug look was wiped off of his face. "N-no way! Is that even humanly possible?"

"Apparently so. I sent both of you just in case she decided to show up. Can't go losing one or both of our best operatives." Andrew chuckled. "Anyway, that's it for the debrief. You two have have combat training with Ryoutarou."

Shino and Kazuto simultaneously rolled their eyes. "Great." Shino's dull voice made it clear that she wasn't looking forward to "training." Last time, Ryoutarou had made them run around and dodge bullets for almost half an hour, saying that it "improved their battlefield skills substantially."

* * *

"That wasn't too bad." Kazuto put his hands behind his head in a relaxed gesture, as the pair walked out of the large room that contained all of the TSG's training equipment.

"Easy for you to say…" Shino pouted. During the course of the exercise, she had acquired a few new bruises. Their class had been on 'defensive techniques', as Ryoutarou liked to call it. In reality, he just got to shoot rubber bullets at them while they tried their best to block or deflect them. Kazuto was already used to deflecting and cutting bullets with his sword, and his new photon sword only made it easier for him. Shino, however, was stuck jumping from cover to cover and grabbing whatever equipment Klein had made available to them. Today, it had been a baseball bat. _What the hell was he thinking?_ Needless to say, if one were to walk by the door leading to the large training room, they would have heard rifle fire, then a series of feminine yelps and shrieks, and long slurs of not-so-feminine curses, mostly directed at one person in particular.

"You can't deny it might come in handy one day." Kazuto pantomimed Shino trying to swing at bullets with her baseball bat. It had looked hilarious, he wouldn't let her forget it any time soon.

Shino playfully punched Kazuto in the arm. "Maybe. I still don't think it was worth it, though." She rubbed a spot on her shoulder that was a particularly painful-looking colour of purplish-brown.

Kazuto chuckled, as the two headed to their personal barracks room. Normally, males and females' sleeping quarters were separated, according to the fraternization rules of the TSG. However, an exception was made for Kazuto and Shino, as Andrew had ruled that if they didn't spend every waking (and slumbering as well, apparently) moment together, it would mess up their team dynamic. Kazuto could probably guess that that was _not_ the reason Andrew had made an exception, but he didn't like to think about it.

Kazuto took off his black operative's coat, and Shino removed her urban digital camouflaged fatigues. She usually liked to wear more of a forest-pattern green, but the mission had required her make a change of wardrobe. Kazuto, on the other hand, had no problem with wearing anything, as long it was black and masculine. The room was simple, with two beds in opposite corners of the room, and a door leading to a bare but functional bathroom. It certainly wasn't as inviting as a civilian home, with stark white walls, devoid of any decoration, with a dark laminate floor, and stark white bedsheets to match. The white light given off by the lamps didn't help either, just bathing everything in a sterile blinding white. Kirito, in just his base layer, climbed into the bed, eager to let sleep take hold of him. Sinon followed suit, turning the lights off before she did so.

"Goodnight, Kazuto." She yawned.

"You too, Shino. Big, important mission tomorrow." He said it as a joke; it had become an inside joke between the two. Even if the next day was completely free. Shino and Kazuto's relationship extended beyond just work. Extended beyond friends, even. It was almost as if they were two halves to one person. Indeed, when you have to accompany somebody through hell and back, you are guaranteed to grow close.

* * *

 **A/N:** Boom shaka-laka! Second story, yay! So I'm sure you guys have lots of questions- the TSG are the initials of Japan's special operatives force, if you were to say it in Japanese. And that's it for question period! Also, I don't have a beta or anything for this story, and I don't intend to. Don't get me wrong, betas are great, but I want to play this one solo. (See what I did there? ;D) I'm also doing away with pre-chapter authors notes and chapter titles alltogether. I know, it's probably a bad idea, but I don't think they're adding anything to my stories anymore. Now let it be known that I am NOT abandoning or putting Swords and Bows on hold, I'll work on both stories **simultaneously**. That's right. Super impressive, huh? Anyway, if you like the concept or the story in general, please drop a review! It'd be greatly appreciated, and with all work I do, constructive criticism is not only accepted but welcomed. :). Anyways, that should be all for now. EDIT: Whoah, this story is really similar to _In Darkness We Fall_ , except the fact that it's not as good as Shiori07's story. I had no intention of copying him or anything, I came up with the secret agent idea myself. But the story might need a title change, just so it's easier to tell them apart. If you guys have any ideas, let me know! Thanks. SECOND EDIT: So after receiving a very helpful review, I have realized that I do use one analogy WAY too much in this chapter, so I have edited it slightly to alleviate that issue.

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	2. II

II

* * *

Kazuto yawned, as he stepped out of the barracks with Shino at his side, to another busy morning on the TSG base they were stationed at. "I guess we have the day off, huh? No training, no crazy missions… Nothing." He huffed as the realization set in. Their first day off in weeks, where they could finally be normal teenagers, and ignore the fact that they had been trained for over 12 years each to be killers. Experience life's joys, not that they were particularly accessible on a special forces base. Still, as Kazuto and Shino began to walk towards the base's leisure centre, they felt a strange sort of serenity, of overlooking all the day's activities beginning to unfold, without being a part of it. The sun shining on the backs of the new recruits as they did morning PT, reminding them of how far they had come. The birds chirping in the not-far-off trees. It certainly was a peaceful morning.

That was, until a certain red-headed man in a dress shirt and slacks with a sloppily done tie could be heard yelling at the two, and seen waving at them from afar, the sun behind him highlighting the colour of his hair. "Hey!" He yelled at them. "I need to talk to you guys!"

Shino and Kazuto stopped walking, waiting for Ryoutarou. "What do you want?" Shino almost spat, still holding a grudge from the day before.

Ignoring her attitude towards him, Ryoutarou proceeded to catch his breath, before speaking. "I know this is supposed to be your day off, but Andrew really wanted me to talk to you. He says… He says Argo's found Heathcliff."

Kazuto audibly gasped. "Impossible. He's dead." He stated, before crossing his arms.

"There's no way for you to confirm he died." Ryoutarou refuted. "Let's be honest. The only reason you believe he's dead is because it's too painful to think otherwise!" He said, getting more impatient.

Kazuto clenched his fists and gnashed his teeth, obviously offended. "Kazuto…" Shino interjected, putting a hand on his arm in an attempt to calm him. "It's true we don't have any proof that Heathcliff was killed… And if he's still out there, I want to try and find him. After all, he was our mentor." She said, her voice soft. Directing a second comment towards Ryoutarou, she added, "And he did a hell of a lot better training than you've ever done." She snapped, pointedly.

"Whoah, whoah! No need to go ballistic!" Ryoutarou held his hands up in surrender. "I was just going to say, she thinks she knows where he is. So if you two want to go and see if our phantom mentor is really there, we can get you out before noon."

"What do you think, Kazuto?" Shino turned to face Kazuto; it was an unspoken agreement that he was their leader. "We're obliged to bring him back."

Kazuto's expression relaxed. "If he's really there, we have to go. There's no decision to be made." He said, his jaw setting in a determined look, one Shino knew all too well.

Ryoutarou nodded solemnly. "I'll brief you two after you're both ready."

"Understood." Shino answered, before the two turned around to once again enter the barracks.

Kazuto sighed. "And I thought we were going to have a day off." He joked.

"You, of all people should know how rare that is." Shino retorted, her blue hair flowing in the sunlight. The metal clips she usually used to keep her bangs from her face had been replaced by simple ribbon bindings, as she hadn't expected to see any action in the field.

Kazuto remained silent as the two traversed the halls to their accommodation, before opening their "closet" full of equipment, which was set in the far wall, to the right of Kazuto's bed. The left side contained a black longsword, which Kazuto mainly kept for nostalgic purposes, as it had been replaced by his photon sword. Aside from the sword, there were several models of pistols, ranging from a silenced Desert Eagle to the full-auto Glock 21. A single black FN SCAR hung directly to the right of the pistols, though Kazuto didn't use it much. The final item on his side was a jet-black, knee-length coat with silver accents. Little known to the people around him, the inside was lined with kevlar, a small measure to try and keep him safe. A small divider separated Kazuto's equipment from Shino's- which consisted of several jackets with the same design- a high collar, extending just past the ribs. The jackets had different camouflage patterns. One was a light forest green, another consisted of irregular polygons in shades of black and grey. Her desert jacket looked as if it was made of sand, and her snow-camo coat was splotched with various whites and light blues. Next to these rested two sniper rifles. A black .50 BMG-firing PGM Ultima Ratio that she affectionately called "Hécate", along with a tan Remington MSR, fitted with a wide scope (pun intended) of attachments. These consisted of a bi-pod, a modified 12x magnification scope, and a suppressor, to keep her kills quiet and her location concealed. She had to admit, the latter was a better rifle for the day-to-day operations, but the anti-materiel beast held a special place in her heart.

The black-haired teen shrugged the coat onto his shoulders, while Shino hesitantly slung the MSR over her shoulder. Kazuto loaded an extended magazine into his automatic pistol while Shino took an H&K USP .45 from his weapons rack, and shoved it into the holster at her hip. Sticking her tongue out at him, she pulled a sharp knife from another rack and slid it into a discrete pocket in her boot. The two were ready for combat- a rather terrifying sight. Opening the door with the intention of meeting Ryoutarou, or "Klein," as his callsign was, in the briefing room, they were instead almost mobbed by new recruits.

"Is that the Black Swordsman?! Wow, look at that gear!" One voice chirped.

"They say his actual name is Kirito…" Another recruit whispered in the now silent hall, the recruits gathering to admire the two operatives that topped the ranks. Kazuto smirked at the inaccuracy of the information.

"Is that Hawkeye, too?" Yet another recruit spoke up.

"Isn't her name The Phantom Bullet?" The first one argued back.

"Guys, guys?" Shino spoke up. "We have somewhere to be…" She almost laughed awkwardly.

"Of course, ma'am!" All of them said at once, stepping to the side of the halls. They stood at attention, a sign of respect.

Kazuto and Shino continued down the hall, feeling slightly uncomfortable- almost violated, after that encounter. As they sauntered into the briefing room, they officially entered the operation, donning their callsigns.

"Alright," Klein said. "Heathcliff is supposed to be in northern Canada-"

"What? Really?" Sinon sighed, looking annoyed. "I have the wrong jacket on. You seriously should have briefed us before we got ready."

"Me as well…" Kirito crossed his arms.

"Just hear me out, you two can go change later." Klein said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "He's supposedly in the Yukon Territories, however he will have moved into Alaska by the time you two are deployed."

"Alaska is huge. Where in Alaska will he be?" Kirito inquired.

"I don't know." Klein replied. "Only the Agil and the pilot who will be taking you know, for security purposes. Agil will guide you over comms once you get there."

"That it?" Sinon raised an eyebrow.

"No. This isn't going to be easy. Argo also tells me it's possible that Heathcliff has gone rogue." He said, voice serious. The implications were stunning. Heathcliff had been the organization's best operative. If Kirito and Sinon were forced to fight their old mentor…

"That, and you'll be issued new cold-weather gear. Here it is." Klein said, putting an end to Kirito and Sinon's running thoughts. He walked to the back of the room and slid open the wall panel which lead to the armoury. Kirito and Sinon walked around the large wooden table they had been gathered around in the dimly-lit room, to walk into the- by contrast- much better lit equipment store.

The room was gigantic, with most of it taken up by the firing range. Along the opposite side of the room, racks of equipment lined the walls. Everything an operative would ever need, all stored on the racks. However, seeing as how Heathcliff, Kirito and Sinon had been the TSG's most effective unit, they had had their personal equipment store. As the two followed Klein to the end of the room, they marvelled at the new state-of-the-art gear they were being issued. Kirito received a white coat with fur lining the collar- it didn't extend to his usual knee-length- just past his waist. He also received a pair of white ski pants. Both of these garments were accompanied with a kevlar lining. Sinon was issued a white hip-length coat with a furry hood, as well as a matching pair of ski pants. The two also were issued white fur-lined combat boots- feet had to be kept warm.

"And here are a day's worth of field rations." Klein finished, giving each a decently sized packet that contained three MREs (Meals, Ready to Eat) each. "You two are ready for your next operation. The helicopter is waiting on pad 3." He gestured out the door, before adding, "Good luck."

* * *

"Jeez, all this gear and I'm still cold," Sinon shivered on the stark, un-cushioned bench, unconsciously shifting closer to the unusually white-clad teen next to her, who was exhaling breaths into his cupped hands.

"Only my fingers are freezing. Other than that, this new cold-weather stuff is great. I just wish it wasn't so… Flashy." Kirito puffed yet another breath into his hands, his misted breath escaping through the small gaps between his fingers. The doors on either side of the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk were closed, but military helicopters weren't exactly designed to be comfortable. The pair of operatives couldn't hear anything over the roar of the engine, save for the occasional creaking of metal and the bumps of turbulence.

After a minute of silence, Sinon decided to reply to Kirito's comment. "You only have yourself to blame for that. You gave up those warm gloves to take your dumb half-fingered ones because they-" At this point, she held her gloved hands up and made an air-quotes gesture. "-Because they mess up your sword handling, or whatever."

"It does!" Kirito defended. "It's all in the wrist." He added, with an accompanying smile.

"I will never understand you." Sinon sighed, shivering some more. It was at that point both of their earpieces crackled in their ears, simultaneously coming to life. It was the pilot.

"We're about 2 minutes out, you two should get ready."

"Roger." Kirito said, holding the button on his miniature earpiece.

Sinon put her hands behind her head, and pulled her hood forward and over her head. Only her blue bangs, secured by metal clips poked out from inside, as she brushed the fur lining away from her eyes. "Kirito," She said with slight concern audible in her voice. "I swear, you're gonna freeze."

"I'll be fine." He said, pulling a white cap over his head, along with a white face mask.

Their ears popped as the helicopter descended, the vibrations becoming louder and more pronounced with the increase of air pressure. Finally touching down, Kirito pulled open the door and leaned out, feeling a torrent of freezing snow and wind buffet his exposed eyes and fingers.

"Ready?" Sinon tapped him on the back.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Kirito shrugged and jumped out, landing heavily on the snow and leaving a pronounced footprint.

Sinon followed soon after, slinging the strap of her sniper rifle over her shoulder. She looked up into the snow, brushing a lock of blue hair out of her vision and behind the lip of her hood. _Mentor… You never gave up. And now, we're here to find you. I hope you haven't strayed off the path of good, but regardless… We're coming for you… Kayaba!_

* * *

 **A/N:** So, here's the second chapter before I put this story on hiatus for a short while as well, or at least until I finish my exams. I don't usually reply to reviews here directly, but Posiden666: Thanks for all the help in your reviews, it's really helped me improve! I admit I used that part about the cohesiveness a lot and that's my bad, but I usually don't have the time or enough ideas to write a chapter in a single sitting- and I don't think that's going to change... Haha. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I'll be posting my next chapter (either this story or _Swords and Bows_ ) sometime after the 22nd of January! So...

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	3. III

III

* * *

The constant howling of the wind did nothing to help Sinon forget the vicious cold. The wind bit her nose, and frost formed on her lashes. Her breath misted in front of her, blurring her vision. She and Kirito had been slowly traversing the barren ice-land for an hour, long after the sound of a whirring rotor had diminished to a faint hum, then disappeared completely. Kirito remained two steps ahead of her- a distance she was actually glad for. She needed to think. If Heathcliff really was out here, then there was definitely a reason. One she wasn't quite sure she would be able to deal with, considering Heathcliff's fame- no, infamy was a better word for it.

She suspected that this was the reason Kirito had distanced himself from her, as usually they would be walking shoulder to shoulder, despite even the harshest of environments. He was probably also thinking the same things she was, and especially thinking on the most unsettling statement Klein had made. _There's also a possibility he could have gone rogue…_ His voice replayed in her head. A business-like tone, completely replacing his usual cheerful banter. And Argo, that rat. She could always get intel anywhere, when even some of the most skilled infiltrators from other countries could not.

Lost in thought, Sinon bumped into a soft wall. She yelped, and scrambled back a foot. Kirito had stopped, and was now turned around with a half amused, half quizzical expression on his face, as if to say, _What were you thinking about that was so important you could bump into me?_

"Why are we stopping?" Sinon questioned, quickly regaining her composure.

"Don't you see it?" He kept looking straight ahead. Sinon couldn't see his face, but she could swear he was squinting into the blizzard.

"See what?" She moved aside to be able to look over his shoulder, in the direction he was turned. "Oh. That." Sighing, Sinon pulled the MSR off of her back. Did he really have to stop so abruptly for just an old military-looking compound? It was probably abandoned, anyway.

"Not just that." He held his hand out, as if to prevent Sinon from doing anything stupid.

 _Sure, like I would be the one to do something dumb…_ She internally sighed again, before peering through her scope at the facility in the distance. The wind shifted, and she caught a flash of red disappear into one of the separate buildings of the complex, her breath hitched in her throat. "What the hell was that?" She said, just loud enough for Kirito to hear over the freezing wind. Sinon swivelled her head to look at Kirito, who was still intently watching, now with a pair of binoculars pulled out.

"So you saw it too. At least I know I'm not going crazy."

"You don't think it could be-" Sinon started, before she was cut off by a slightly distraught Kirito.

"It has to. Who else would go around wearing blood red in a land covered in nothing but snow?" He smirked.

The implications were clear. Argo had been right again, and Heathcliff was indeed around, if not in the building ahead. "Kirito," Sinon started, her voice monotone, "Do you want me to set up somewhere?" It was a good question. They both had their minds on the fact that the mentor could have gone AWOL, instead of being dead.

Kirito's eyebrows scrunched up, the way they did when he thought hard about a tough decision. "Ahh… Nah. If Heathcliff is really there, he'll want to see both of us to know we trust him. Plus, I'm not sure we'd have a chance fighting him even if he has gone rogue."

"Yeah, you're right." At this, Sinon turned and slung her sniper over her back once more, and began to jog lightly towards the compound, Kirito's footsteps on the soft snow not far behind.

The pair of operatives stood in front of a rusty steel door, the lock securely in place despite the freezing conditions. The storm had slowed to an almost friendly breeze, occasional snowflakes falling from the ever-cloudy sky above. However, the sun was beginning to set- dropping the temperature considerably.

"Well, how are we going to get in?" Sinon looked to Kirito, the one able to think his way through anything.

"Hmm…" He stepped back a few paces, to survey the big picture. The compound was a series of stone and metal bunkers- a wall surrounding these that had towers in the corners. Some of these bunkers and buildings extended quite high, and thus were connected by catwalks of various lengths, in various states of disrepair. Snow was blown about by the wind, accumulating in corners across from windows and against walls.

"There's a broken window." Kirito decided it was their best chance to get in without being heard or seen.

Sinon wrinkled her nose at this. "Sneaking through windows kind of makes me feel… Sketchy…"

"Windows aren't sketchy, they're practical." Kirito briefly stuck his tongue out at her, before nimbly jumping through and landing quietly on the other side.

"Whatever…" Sinon grumbled, taking the less graceful approach of bracing her hand on the bottom windowsill and vaulting through, electing to protect her rifle instead of looking cool.

Now that they were inside, Kirito had become more careful, keeping a hand on his photon sword, peeking around corners before they entered rooms. The two were slowly making their way towards the catwalk leading into a building they had seen the red cloak disappear into, ever-cautiously. Sinon had pulled out the pistol she had taken from Kirito before they left, and was holding out in front of her- just as Kirito had started doing the same, once he realized a sword made of a beam of light may not have been a good idea in such small rooms with his partner behind him.

It was obvious that whoever had been wearing the cloak had not moved much, as the sound of fabric flapping was obvious, now that the snow had completely stopped falling, and the only thing that remained of the storm before was a slight wind. Snow had piled up in most of the rooms, despite the tightly closed doors. It was probably due to the fact that all the windows seemed to have been blasted out. Bloodstains littered the walls, though no bodies were to be found. It was a strange sight, and all the while Sinon and Kirito had kept moving towards their objective. The sound of flapping fabric remained, and thus had become a source of suspicion. It was unlikely that their old mentor would stay out in the cold, exposed to the elements. Much less staying in exactly the same place.

Their unspoken suspicions became true when they turned a corner to find the torn end of a red cape, stuck in the interstice of the catwalk's railing and the doorway.

Kirito exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "He's not here." He said, quite matter-of-factly.

"He _was_ here." Sinon corrected, stepping up to examine the cloth. "Do you remember the first time we had gone into the field? He was wearing completely blood-red gear." She chuckled lightly, though it was without humour. "I thought it was the strangest thing ever."

"Like it was yesterday." Kirito confirmed. "But then it turns out he didn't need camouflage at all. When you gave him a sword and a ballistic shield, he fought like a demon."

"Yeah, and he could be quiet when he wanted to." Sinon replied. "But we can't spend time reminiscing over him forever. Come on, we should break for today."

"You're right." Kirito peered out of the doorway. "The storm is over, but the sun is dipping low over the mountains." He began to unload his pack- it was full of cold weather camping and survival gear.

"Since when did you become a poet?" Sinon inquired as to his choice of words.

"I guess Heathcliff rubbed off on me a little too much." He replied, with a wry smile.

* * *

 _Chongju, North Korea. 23:20, 16 months prior._

"Kirito, with me. Sinon, set up on top of that hill. Don't forget the netting."

"Affirmative." Two voices spoke in unison.

Sinon turned to begin climbing the hill towards her directed position, stumbling on loose rocks in the dark. She was always far from the action, but that was the way she liked it. Kirito and Heathcliff were the ones who were always in front, in the fray. The two were both sword users- though Sinon refused to believe it was a coincidence. In a world of modern technology- guns and missiles, who would use a steel sword? It puzzled her to no end. Heathcliff was even stranger than Kirito, preferring to use a ballistic shield along with his sword. Some might say Kirito was more skilled, as he could block bullets without a shield- but he was a sort of natural prodigy, winning the kendo championships at age 15. This was what had caught the TSG's attention when he first signed up with Japan's military. What could have driven such an upbeat boy to join the special forces, Sinon couldn't comprehend. But she wasn't in any position to question others' life choices. Especially not after what she'd done.

And maybe what she'd done should bother her, but for some reason, she failed to feel any emotion when thinking of killing someone in cold blood. Murder- that's what it was, and it hadn't affected her in any way. She had felt the only place for her was the army; a place where killing wasn't frowned upon. Sure- some were disgusted by the fact that soldiers' merits were based on their confirmed kills, but it was the rule that allowed Sinon to relax. She didn't really feel attachments for other people, either. She'd only been stationed on the two berserkers' team for a month, and she still rarely talked to either of them.

Reaching the spot Heathcliff had directed her to, Sinon unfurled the camouflage netting that was placed neatly in her pack, and spread it over herself like a blanket. She made sure the tip of her barrel extended out of the net without any obstructions, then settled back to stare through her scope. The two swordsmen had already reached their positions just outside the side door of one of the buildings. They moved ridiculously fast- it had taken them only a minute and half to travel over 500 meters on foot.

"This won't be easy, sunshine." Kirito's voice echoed through her radio. "You ready?"

 _Sunshine?_ Sinon almost giggled, before regaining her serious composure. "Ready."

At this, Heathcliff stepped out in front of the door and used his shield to bash it open- a feat unachievable by most other men. However, his strength was immense. Kirito drew his jet-black sword, and it gleamed in the night. Almost immediately, gunshots could be heard ringing out of the complex and echoing off the mountains, followed by screams of agony as Kirito's sword no doubt pierced the throats of the assailants.

Knowing it was futile to continue watching the two on the ground floor, Sinon began to scan the illuminated windows- in hopes of finding and eliminating as many targets as she could, to help the two on the ground. _There._ _Breathe in…_ BANG! A splatter of dark appeared on the wall, and the gunman that was running through the hall went limp, and toppled forward. _Breathe out._ She propped herself up on one elbow to pull the bolt of her PGM Ultima Ratio back, before laying down again, replacing her trigger finger.

"Watch the stairs." She said, holding the button on her radio.

"How did you know there were stairs?" Kirito's voice promptly responded, with muted cries of pain in the background.

"There's a second floor. Of course there's stairs." Sinon rolled her eyes. When she was met with silence, she grinned.

"We're nearing the console." A deeper, more masculine voice emitted from the radio. Heathcliff. "You're ready with the laptop, I take it." The sound of boots on metal grates could be heard behind his voice. They were climbing the stairs to the second floor- where the control room was located. "Okay." Heathcliff continued, just as Sinon saw the two enter the room through her scope. "Plugging you in now."

"Roger." Sinon replied, flipping open the armoured computer that had previously sat dormant in her bag. She bit her lip as the lines of incomprehensible text flooded her screen. Towards the end, the lines of code became strings she could understand. Her fingers found their way to the keys, and began to fly, pressing one after another in rapid succession.

Two minutes later, she still had not cracked the code- so to speak, and was still typing at breakneck pace.

"Sinon?" Kirito's voice came through the radio. "I know these are nuclear warhead launch codes- and they're probably under ridiculous amounts of protection… But aren't you a top hacker?"

"Shut up, Kirito. This is unlike anything I've ever seen. Plus, I've almost got it now."

"Okay, miss blue-haired expert sniper and hacker." His taunting voice came through the radio again, making Sinon's face turn red with fury. _Why the hell does he bother me so much?_

"It's finished." Sinon said into the radio, barely containing her anger.

"Good work, Sinon." Heathcliff's voice. "Now, we just have to set these nukes on a trajectory as far up as those rocket motors will take the- wait, that's not right." His voice became more panicked than puzzled.

"What's not right?" Kirito's voice, also serious. "Oh… Shi-"

His voice was cut off by the crackling of the radio. Worried, Sinon picked it up and began to fiddle with the frequency knob. Earning nothing but static for her efforts, she sighed and began to mercilessly press the reset button, but was interrupted by a low, rumbling sound. One that was quiet, but equally ear piercing. _Boom._

The windows of the control room that Kirito and Heathcliff had just been in were forcefully blasted out of their sills, followed by a glowing fireball that rose up into the night sky, illuminating the whole complex.

* * *

 **A/N:** And I'm back! For all you readers that were eagerly awaiting a new chapter of _Swords and Bows_ , I'm sorry this wasn't what you were expecting! I know it would have been logical progression to write the next chapter for that story, but writing this is just SO MUCH FUN! Haha, anyway, onto a few things about the chapter. I tossed in a little homage to SAO writer KnightEstoc, which I think he deserves for the great work he's done with stories like _Shared Strength_. And also, FLASHBACK! I had to cut this chapter in half, because it'll be a while before this particular backstory-segment is over. (Don't take this to mean I have the next half of this chapter already written- because I don't, haha.) Yep, that, and I love cliffhangers. I haven't even started working on the next chapter for _SaB_ , but you can be damned sure Yui will be in it. Ah-hah! It has also come to my attention that this story has been added to the Sinoto community! Thanks, I'm flattered! And my last important point- the covers for my stories are a little bland... IF, and that's IF, any of you want to try your hand at drawing a cover for either this or Swords and Bows, I'd be happy to give it a look, and I might even use it! So anyway, please review, guys, I love it when I get reviews. (More than follows or faves combined.) That should be all this time.

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	4. IV

IV

* * *

Kirito gasped as the ancient-looking display flashed red Korean text, which Kirito could only fathom what they meant. Heathcliff, however, had learned multiple languages.

"It says: unauthorized access, destructing control console." He read slowly, before the realization kicked in.

"Oh, shi-"

Heathcliff tackled Kirito into a corner before turning to face the room, and raising his shield. "Stay behind me." He said, just loud enough for Kirito to hear. Given the current situation, he was remarkably calm.

The seconds between then and the explosion were riveting. Kirito had never known what people meant when they said they were "in cold sweats," but now he understood. The steady beeping from the central console grew faster, until a blinding flash and a deafening sound rendered him dead to the world. The next thing he knew was the heat. He knew it wasn't anywhere close, but it felt to him like a thousand suns being shoved into his face. He could only imagine what Heathcliff felt.

Eventually, the world of white diminished to spots, and those were blinked out. Intuition told Kirito that the ringing in his ears would not cease any time soon. Disoriented without his sense of hearing, Kirito stumbled to his feet, bracing his hand against the wall for support. Looking to the centre of the room, he saw that where the console once stood was a heap of smouldering slag, blackened by the inferno. Streaks of this black extended out to the sides of the room, where Kirito could see that the windows had been blown out.

It was then that he realized the lack of a certain person. Looking down, Heathcliff's body was splayed on the floor where he had been defending Kirito, his shield smoking and warped. The arm that held said shield was blackened and bent at strange angles at the shoulder and the elbow. It couldn't be said that Kirito and his mentor were particularly close, but seeing the man who had protected him so stoically in a state of such ruin caused him to stop and have to blink the tears out of his eyes. He knew, however, that there would be no time to mourn him and definitely no hope in trying to carry his massive body.

The annealed black blade Kirito carried and had placed against the console rested shattered in many pieces on the floor- he guessed there were an equal amount of metal shards blown out the window. Slightly heartbroken, Kirito stepped out the door and picked a rifle up from a fallen soldier- the wound in his stomach where Kirito's sword had pierced him still leaking blood. Kirito instantly recognized it as the Russian AKM, however the tape stuck to the side of the lower receiver instead identified it as T-68, which he took to mean Type 68. He shrugged and pulled the magazine release switch to check how many rounds were left. Kirito grimaced. The grunt had sprayed most of his bullets at Kirito without aiming, which left a total of two bullets in the 31-round magazine. The black-clad operative knelt down and quickly searched the various pouches that decorated the fallen man's vest, finding three spare magazines, and one fragmentation grenade. As soon as he finished stuffing the equipment into the various pouches on the inside of his coat, he pulled the rusty iron sights to his eye and tucked the stock into his shoulder. Kirito didn't necessarily like to use guns at all- he found them loud and ungraceful- but as an operator of his stature, it would be ridiculous if he hadn't been trained to operate them at all. Quietly stepping out of the room and heading back down the corridor, he swiftly pointed his gun this way and that, scanning for enemy forces that could have either survived or arrived in the time that he and Heathcliff were in the control room- whatever North Korean forces that hadn't already been alerted to their presence were most definitely on their way to try and kill Kirito and Sinon now.

It the moment, his only priority was to make it outside of the complex and away to find Sinon- she now had the only working radio the three had brought- the other two had been melted in the explosion. As Kirito's boots lightly made contact with the metal stairs, the final remnants of the ringing in his ears cleared entirely, which allowed him to listen more carefully. Loud voices yelled down the hall, coming from the door he and his mentor had initially breached through. It seemed he would have to find a different exit entirely. Pointing the barrel of his AR down the hall for one last second, before turning and sprinting as quietly as his heavy boots would let him.

* * *

If there was a time in this mission when the two swordsmen would need the sniper they brought along, it was now. In the wake of the explosion, filled infantry transport trucks began pulling up the road. Sinon promptly shot each and every one of the seven drivers. Some soldiers, however, escaped the collisions, and rushed on foot towards the building. Not being able to fire accurately fast enough to take them all out, Sinon instead fired at the few that seemed to have more powerful weapons- the ones carrying light machine guns and DMRs.

Now that it was entirely up to the two to get out of the building themselves, Sinon threw the camouflage netting off and began to roll it up sloppily and quickly; she didn't want to be found. The enemy knew there was a sniper, and has split off a small task force to find and presumably, dispatch of her. Slinging her pack over her shoulder along with her rifle, she turned and looked up the hill to see if she could find a better hidden vantage point. It was quite a steep, barren hill- covered only by gravel and the occasional tuft of grass. In the faint moonlight, Sinon could see a protruding sandstone outcrop- the perfect spot. She would have to move fast and stealthily- the gravel underneath her feet wouldn't take too kindly to her sprinting along.

Her feet light on the uneven surface below, Sinon slowly climbed up and to the left- where the outcropping extended from the hill's face. It was large enough that she would be able to see anybody who was climbing towards her before they saw her. Upon arriving, the first thing she did was set up- the sniper's bipod came down and her face returned to it's usual spot behind the scope. She didn't with the camo net as she expected to be repositioning soon. She surveyed the landscape- the few soldiers they had sent to find her were methodically sweeping the hill below- it would be at least half an hour before they got up to where she lay. Thank god for the cover of night. It was too bad her sniper rifle didn't have a silencer- the Ultima Ratio's barrel didn't have the threads necessary. She could have taken them out before they saw the glint of her scope. Her thoughts drifted to silencers. _Right!_ Her pistol was equipped with a silencer. From her, though, the small group of soldiers was about 200 meters. Looking through her scope at the middle man, she noticed something strange. _His rifle is against his left shoulder… Is he left-eyed or left-handed? I'll have to take a gamble. IF he's left handed, where would his grenades be?_ Sinon selected a pouch at his hip, and slowly moved her hand back, removing her pistol from it's holster. Still not moving her body, she brought it around in front of her scope, and lined the iron sighs up with the crosshair. _If this doesn't work… I'm screwed._ She eyed the pouch again through her scope, and pulled the trigger. The minute recoil of the silenced weapon didn't even affect her anymore, and she lowered the weapon. Through her scope, she could see a spark indicating the bullet hitting something solid and metal.

 _Please…_

BOOM! The man's torso was ripped from his legs, either from the force of the explosion of the metal fragments that the grenades carried. The tiny murderers were what killed the rest of the task force- their heads and limbs whipping back like they had been struck by ghosts.

 _Bingo._

Of course, Sinon knew it would be a long shot- literally. But, they didn't call her Hawkeye for nothing. She relaxed- nobody else would be coming to try and find her, except for the two swordsmen. As if on cue, a figure in black dashed into her peripheral vision. As most of the soldiers had entered the building at this point, Sinon deemed it safe to show Kirito her position. Tugging a flashlight out of a pocket at her hip, she proceeded to shine it in his direction. She knew he had seen it when he turned sharply and began speeding up the hill. In less than 10 seconds, he had laid prone next to her.

"Where's Heathcliff?" She whispered sharply.

"He…" Kirito didn't finish, and bit his tongue

"Don't tell me…"

"We have to go." Kirito pointed at the soldiers streaming through the doors and beginning to search the hills.

Sinon immediately understood that Heathcliff was gone. To her, it was only shocking. How could someone so strong be defeated like that? She remained in this state of shock as her body automatically rose up from her prone position and slung the rifle over her shoulder. She was only shaken back to reality when the distinct snapping sound of bullets landing nearby began.

"Run, Shino!" He grabbed her arm and began to sprint up the hill; Sinon wasn't following so much as being dragged along.

"Don't use that name here!" She hissed.

"Sorry, heat of the moment!" Kirito yelled over the bullets, until a cry of pain sounded behind him. Stopping immediately, he turned to find Sinon on her knees on the ground, blood oozing from a bullet wound in her leg.

"Can you walk?" Kirito asked quickly, panicked.

"Does it _look_ like I can walk?" Sinon glared at him, gritting her teeth. It was obvious that the full pain of the bullet hadn't kicked in- she was still in shock.

"Damn it." Kirito grit his teeth as well, in exasperation. Despite the continuing snapping sound of bullets impacting the ground around him, he slowly knelt down and looped Sinon's arm around his neck, picking her up in a bridal carry. He was careful not to disturb the wound in her upper thigh, and again began sprinting up the hill.

"Why wouldn't you just leave me?" The hostility in her voice was gone, but the fire in her eyes remained.

"I won't leave another teammate behind." He said, mostly to himself. He half meant Heathcliff, but there was another…

Sinon seemed to understand and remain silent; the fire in her eyes dying off as the effects of adrenaline receded and she began to feel the pain in her leg. As Kirito came to the crest of the hill, the grunts had all but stopped shooting- it was almost impossible to hit Kirito as when he ran he turned into a black blur, which was only harder to see during the night.

However, a stray bullet fired by an unknown soldier was on it's way. Unbeknownst to Kirito, it was very much on target. The yell in pain echoed off the hills as the bullet entered his back right next to his spine. He collapsed to the ground while trying to drop Sinon on her back instead of her leg. Kirito could tell a few internal organs had been punctured by fragments of the bullet from the searing pain and the black spots appearing in his vision, and it wasn't long until his eyesight dimmed completely. In the last moments of his consciousness, he could hear Sinon weakly speaking into her radio, and the sound of a helicopter closing in.

"You'd better have a damn medic."

"We see you now, ma'am. We'll have immediate medical aid ready."

"Good…" Then, Kirito could hear Sinon collapse as well- presumably from blood loss, and everything was silent.

* * *

"Commander!"

"Speak up, corporal."

"I- I think…"

"What, cat got your tongue?"

"I think he's still alive!"

* * *

 **A/N:** This should mark the end of this long-as-hell flashback. Sorry it's kinda dull- I kinda had no clue where this should go- but the next chapter is planned-out... Ish. These chapters are coming slower- I have more cores this term which means more homework... Ugh. Sorry again. I really had no notes for this chapter except for... Follow and review, I guess? Yep, that's about it.

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	5. V

V

* * *

 _Darkness._

Sinon had become accustomed to her nightmares. They were strange, however, in the way that she woke up every morning with them rapidly fading from her memory. As a result of this, she was never able to find her fear and quash it.

A face emerged out of the darkness. Then a body. A child's. Smiling innocently, laughing. Black hair framed her face, her bangs tied to the sides with small ribbons. Ah, yes. She recognized her now. It was a young Shino, happy as ever. A sound behind her. Sinon turned in the black void of her dream. It was a face she had never wanted to see again.

 _Father._

As he also fully appeared from the darkness, he strode forward with the heavy steps she used to fear. Sensing he wouldn't stop for her, Sinon stepped to the side as he walked by, towards young Shino. He bent down to look her in the eye and scowled. Sinon's father had been war-torn. It was no mistake she joined the special forces- she had too much of her father in her. He had turned to alcohol to combat his PTSD. It didn't work out well for Shino… Or her mother.

"You are too weak." He thundered, in his trained voice. He grabbed little Shino's arm and threw her. Her cries echoed out, and brought Sinon back in time. She crouched down, trying to keep the scene out of her head. But no matter how much she closed her eyes, and how much she put her hands over her ears, she could still see and hear everything.

Another face. Kind, framed with the same black hair as Shino. It was longer, however. Reaching to her mid-back.

 _Mother._

It came back to her. That day- her father had had too much to drink. He raved on about military nonsense- training, throwing and hitting his daughter this way and that. Her mother had tried to stop him. He punched her. Pulled a gun from his back pocket… Shot her. Sinon remembered crying out as the dark red liquid stained the floor below her feet. Her father receded back into the darkness. She was alone with little Shino.

The expression on the small girl's face was almost unreadable. A mix of determination and hatred mixed on a face so young… It was unnerving. She too, then disappeared into the darkness, as well as the limp body of her mother. Only the pool of blood was left. It spread… Across the floor. Up the walls, covering the ceiling. Her vision became blurry and red itself. When it cleared, she felt… Shorter. She was looking at a gun rack. Her quaint little hands reached out, and pulled one off of the metal posts. A black star was etched into the grip. Suddenly, the world raced past, and she became slightly nauseous. The next thing she knew, she was in front of her father, a look of fear in his eyes.

 _BANG!_

Sinon sat bolt upright, her sleeping bag falling to pool around her waist. In an instant, a pair of arms were around her, stroking her hair and warming her up. Cold sweat was still trickling down her forehead, and she almost pushed the person away until she realized that he could only be one person. She relaxed into Kirito's chest, her heart rate gradually slowing.

"I- I'm okay now." Sinon sputtered, suddenly realizing their closeness. Kirito didn't seem to care however, and unwrapped his arms from her slim frame.

"Do you remember what it was this time?" He asked, concern in his eyes.

"I… No." She breathed a sigh. Every time he comforted her when she woke like this, he would ask the same question. And get the same answer, every time.

"But I have a feeling it had something to do with… My dad…" Her face became ashen when she spoke of him, so Kirito had never pressed to find out who her father was. "But I don't really remember that much about him, either…" Her eyebrows pulled to the centre of her forehead like she was trying to reach into her brain's memory archive. The following expression confirmed that she hadn't found anything.

These dreams of Sinon's concerned Kirito much more than he let on. Sometimes, it even felt as if her memory only deteriorated with time, as opposed to improving.

"It's fine." She reassured him, extracting herself from her sleeping bag, standing up, and stretching.

The pair of operators packed their sleeping bags in silence, occasionally glancing in the other's direction.

"Hey, Kirito?" Sinon's voice once again broke the eerie silence. "Why did you join the military?"

"I don't really know." For the first time since she had met him, Kirito seemed uncertain.

"Come on, what kind of answer is that?" She bit her tongue, as the question was quite insensitive, but not before the words had already come out of her mouth.

"I guess it was to get away from my family." He sighed in resignation. "I don't usually tell people about my past, but you deserve to know. The truth is, my parents died in a car accident- or that's what they tell me. I grew up with my aunt and cousin, but I never really felt like part of their family. Somehow… The guilt of intruding on a family that wasn't mine caught up with me. I started to yell at my cousin, and then avoiding them altogether. At the time, it felt like I had no choice."

Sinon only remained silent. Not many people shared childhoods as painful as she.

"I'm a terrible person, Shino." He continued, sitting and placing his back against the wall.

Her head jerked towards him slightly, caught off-guard by the usage of her real name.

"They stationed me in Tokyo, during the riots, then the war. I've had to kill… So, so much."

She gasped. Maybe the shared a more similar past than either of them knew.

"I'll never forget last words and faces of the innocents I was forced to kill. And it got worse. The more I slaughtered… I couldn't leave the military. Because… Because I couldn't face my aunt or my cousin. I couldn't face Suguha… After all I had done." He didn't sound bitter or angry, just remorseful.

"Suguha?" Sinon spoke in a small voice, so as not to startle him into discontinuing the story.

"My cousin- no, my little sister." A small, sad smile crept it's way onto his face. "Come to think of it, it seemed like she was the only one that actually cared about me after my parents… Died." Kirito's teeth clenched.

"O-oh…" Sinon was caught speechless- what was she going to say? Nothing she could say would do the struggle of his past justice… Unless…

"Kirito… I- I, too,"

"What?" He looked at her curiously, after her considerable hesitation.

"I also…" Her mouth moved, but no words accompanied them.

Sensing her distress, Kirito stood up. "Well, let's not dwell on the past any longer, huh?"

Sinon stood up, relieved. "Right."

The two once again began the meticulous routine of sweeping and searching every room. The complex was so large that it took them the rest of the day, but the result was heartbreaking; nothing was to be found. It really seemed as if they were chasing after a ghost. On their exit through another conveniently placed window, the wind started to pick up, and the light flurry that had continuously fallen throughout the day instead became full-fledged snow.

"What's this?" Kirito knelt down to examine something in the snow. "Footprints… But they're fading in this snow, fast." He stood up as fast as he knelt, and took off at a sprint. Sinon did her best to follow, but with her heavy sniper, she couldn't hope to match his pace. This was not even taking to account that Kirito was faster- and always would be faster than she.

"K-Kirito… Can we take a break?" She huffed.

"We need to go after him, Sinon…" He stopped, turning as if considering his options.

"Right. I understand." She inwardly groaned.

"I could… I could carry you?" For the second time ever, his voice wavered.

"O-okay." She didn't know what to expect. When Kirito knelt down, it actually took her a second to realize what his plan was. _He wants me to get on his back. Right. I'm so stupid!_

When her arms were secured around his neck, he immediately stood up and began to sprint again, barely slower than before. _Wow, he's strong, t_ hought Sinon, as the sniper rifle on her back was jolted around and kept hitting her in various places, and she was certain bruises would be left after the fact- but still, she had no place to complain. After another minute or so of running, the light snow was obviously on it's way to becoming a torrential downfall. The footprints they had been following had been covered by this new snow, and they were left with no options but to call in exfiltration.

* * *

"Come on, Shino." He patted her back. In response, she hissed. "S-sorry! Anything wrong?"

"No… Just a few bruises from earlier." She reached one arm behind her to rub her back.

"I'll take a look at it when we get back to our barracks," Kazuto's voice came gently.

The pair stepped out of the helicopter to a dark base, a few of the windows glowing in the night. Wordlessly, they walked through a door, a hallway, another hallway, and another door. The table in the middle of the room was occupied by several stacks of paper, with a tuft of red hair.

"Yo, Ryoutarou! Sleeping on the job again?" Kazuto grinned.

"Huh? What?" His head snapped up, knocking a stack of paper off of the desk. "Oh, Kazuto. You're back. How did it go?"

The smile vanished from his face. "We found this." He handed the red cloth over to Ryoutarou. "And some footprints heading west. We were forced to return before we could find where they led."

At this, the blue-haired teen next to him spoke. "I have a good feeling he was heading towards the Behring Strait. For some sort of transportation- a submarine, a helicopter… Something."

"Hmm…" The older man propped his elbows on the table and leaned forward, his hands clasped under his chin. "That could very well be the case. You're pretty smart, Shino."

"Both of you should have come to the same conclusion," was her cold response.

"R-right!" Both males stuttered at the same time, then chuckled.

"Well, I guess that's all for your debrief." He stood up and walked around the desk to begin collecting the papers that had fallen off of it earlier.

"That's it?" Kazuto questioned.

"I've got no business sticking my nose into this mission… And truth be told, I don't think anybody else does either." He shrugged, pausing his paper-gathering for a moment. "Now you two get some rest, you deserve it."

"Yeah, you too." Shino turned, but not before glancing at him a last time, and the two walked out of the room.

"Kazuto?"

"What is it?"

"Back when you were explaining to my why you joined the military… When you talked about your um… Parents' deaths? You said 'it was an accident- or that's what they tell me,' what did you mean by that?"

Kazuto sighed, but not in frustration. Merely fatigue. "My parents weren't just any random people. They were working on several projects for the black operations division of our military. Namely things such as exoskeletons and healing nanobots."

"Wow…"

"I was told it was an accident- but it was no coincidence that they went out that night and insisted I didn't go with them."

Shino gasped. "Really?"

"Yeah." His bitter voice made her decide to not press anymore.

Before they knew it, they had entered their room and begun to stash their gear on the various racks and stands in the room. As Shino was reaching up to place her borrowed pistol back onto Kirito's gun rack, she grunted.

"Ow…"

"Oh yeah. Here, let me take a look." He walked into the washroom and retrieved a small tin of ointment before returning. Shino was in the process of stripping the layers on her upper body off, and finally reaching the last insulating layer, she drew her hands down to her waist and pulled it off in a single motion.

It took a moment for Kazuto to realize he was staring at her- the muscles visible in her arms- though not as toned as his. Even with all the strength training, her curves still-

"Ahem."

"A-ahah! Sorry!" He quickly walked around behind her. "It's not so bad- I'd say only sixty percent of your back is purple."

"Ugh." Shino just groaned, contemplating on how she was going to sleep on her face for the next week or two. When the cold ointment on Kazuto's fingers touched her skin, she shivered. It wasn't a new sensation- they would treat each other's wounds if they weren't so serious as to warrant the attention of a trained doctor, it's just that she couldn't help it. It happened every time.

"A-aah…" She moaned. _Damn it. I was trying so hard not to let a sound escape, too…_

Kazuto didn't react, seemingly to spare her pride, and his fingers left her back. Presumably gathering more ointment, before returning to rub a different spot. Again, shivers ran up her spine, though she did her best not to let it show. Thank god he couldn't see the blush on her face.

His hand neared the bottom of her bra strap. "You're not gonna make me take this off, too, are you?" She joked.

"Well…"

"Oh, alright. Just don't look, you perv." She hid a sly smile from him, before reaching behind to unclip it. Once again, the cold sensation spread across her back, accompanied with more shivering.

"Okay. That should be it." He turned and put the cap on the small tin, before walking to the washroom to replace it. When he returned to the room, Shino had already changed into her favourite casual sweater.

"Well? Are you gonna stay in that thing forever?" She questioned, before Kirito realized he was still wearing his coat- and was sweating puddles. Struggling to unzip it as fast as possible, he carelessly tossed it on the rack and fell back onto his bed.

"About Heathcliff… What the hell are we going to do now?" He groaned.

"Well… I'm sure we'll figure something out."

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, when I was reading over it again, that last part does seem kind of rushed- but oh well, what's done is done. If I want to rewrite it later, I will. Anyway, this marks the end of my vacation! I'll be back with more updates soon(tm). For those of you who didn't see it on my other story, (more shameless self-advertising,) I've got a poll up on my profile page for what you guys want to see when I finish up SnB. It'll be up for a while longer so don't feel like you have to vote now, but it's there. Also, I've decided to start a side project- namely, a collection of one-shots by yours truly. They'll be SAO one-shots, with different pairings, maybe some crossovers- and if I get requests to continue a particular one-shot, I will. If you guys have any objections to this idea, leave them in your reviews! And that leads me to my next topic. Please review and follow and all that good stuff, really helps a writer out with their motivation (which can be in short supply a lot of the time!) And that's all for now!

Until next time,

-TheSilentSwordsman


	6. Hiatus

Okay, so. I never wanted to do anything like this, but I seem to have lost interest for this little story here, and I will be placing it on **hiatus** indefinitely. Updates might or might not come, but err on the side of not.

Now, for all you aspiring writers out there, feel free to pick this piece up- or change the plot and idea around, your choice! Just give me a heads-up so I can read it.

Truly sorry,  
-TheSilentSwordsman.


	7. Update

**Hi everyone! It's been a while, hasn't it?**

Alright, I just wanted everyone to know that this story has been taken up and continued by Striderm8. The first (continuation) chapter is up on his profile right now. Go give it a read!

Thanks for all the past support on this project. Strider, it's on your shoulders now. Good luck!

I'm not dead and am still writing! A new chapter for Swords and Bows is coming, maybe next week.

 **Until next time,**

 **-TheSilentSwordsman**

 **PS: The formatting is really weird because this was written on mobile.**


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